Dispensers for dispensing media are known. One type of dispenser is a mechanical dispenser which retains one or more rolls of paper towels within a housing, and dispenses individual sheets cut from the roll when a user pulls on the sheet. In some dispensers of this type, the primary or main roll of media can be transferred to a different location within the dispenser when sufficiently depleted to allow for the installation of a new primary roll. Once this transfer occurs, the dispenser will continue to dispense from the same roll, referred to as a stub roll, until it is depleted at which point the dispenser will begin dispensing sheets from the full primary roll. A transfer mechanism is provided in some dispensers of this type to facilitate the switch from dispensing paper from the stub roll to the primary roll. Some shortcomings of existing transfer mechanisms is that the transfer will occur before the stub roll is completely depleted which results in waste since the paper is then never dispensed. The operation of transferring a partially depleted primary roll into the stub roll location can also be cumbersome in some times of dispensers of this type.